Plum Twilight
by christibabe
Summary: RangeMan has been hired to keep the actors from the Twilight series safe when someone starts sending them messages about making fantasy a reality. They will be in costume as their alter-egos while they are in Trenton for the two weeks leading up to the Gala charity event. This is what happens when the two worlds collide on this Halloween. Answer to Halloween challenge-Plum board


**Disclaimer: **The characters aren't mine. They belong to Janet Evanovich and the creator of the _Twilight_ series. This is of course an AU story with a bit of canon thrown in. Stephanie and Ranger are together from the beginning of this story. This story is in response to the Halloween challenge that was issued. Thank you to Dreemseeker for the scene from _Twilight_. Thank you to JenRar for making sure my _Twilight_ facts passed muster and I didn't make any major mistakes. I'd also like to give a special thank you to Mrs. Santos (you know who you are) for your input.

**A/N: **In order to be able to post before the deadline, I haven't had the opportunity to have the story edited. Hopefully, you can overlook the errors and enjoy the story.

**Spoiler: **Notorious Nineteen,Smokin' Seventeen—although, I have taken poetic license and have altered scenes to fit the story.

My day started out much the same as any other day, stopping at the bonds office and picking up my files, then I swung by Lula's to pick her up and we headed out to pick up the newest batch of FTAs. Today Lula had squeezed her plus sized body into a size two leopard print, spandex wrap, and her hair was blond.

The skip first up was one, Ziggy Glitch, wanted for we headed for Kreiner Street, which just happened to be in the Burg, _Lula gave me the rundown on Glitch._

"_It says here he's retired from working at the button factory. Never married as far as I can see. He has a sister who signed the bond agreement. She lives in New Brunswick. This looks like his first arrest. Probably he didn't take his meds and got wacky and hit some other old geezer with his cane." Lula leaned forward counting off the houses. "It's the brick house with the red door. The one with the black curtains hanging in all the windows. What's with that?"_

_Ziggy lived in a narrow two-story house that had two feet of lawn and a small front porch. It looked like every other house on the block with the exception of the black curtains. We got out of the car, rang the doorbell and waited. No answer._

"_I bet he's in there," Lula said. "Where else would he be? He don't work, and there's no bingo at this time of the morning."_

_I rang the bell again, we heard some shuffling inside the house, and the door opened a crack._

"_Yes?" the pale face on the other side of the crack asked._

_From what I could see he fit the description of Ziggy Glitch. Thinning gray hair, bony at 5'10"._

"_I represent your bail bond agent," I said. "You missed a court date and you need to reschedule."_

"_Come back after dark." And he slammed the door shut and locked it._

"_Good going," Lula said to me. "I don't know why you use that lame-ass line. It never works. Everybody knows you're gonna drag their keister off to jail. And if they wanted to be in jail they would have kept their stupid court date in the first place."_

"_Hey!" I yelled at Ziggy. "Come back here and open this door, or we're going to kick it open."_

"_I'm not kicking no door in my Via Spigas," Lula said._

"_Great. I'll kick it open all by myself."_

_We both knew this was baloney. Kicking down a door wasn't on my list of skills mastered._

"_I'm going to the car," Lula said. "I got a bucket of chicken there with my name on it."_

_I followed Lula to the car and drove the short distance to my parent's house. _If anyone had the scoop on Ziggy, it would be Grandma.

It only took a couple minutes to reach my parent's house, and as I pulled into the drive it was to see my mom and Grandma standing on the front porch with the door open as if they had sensed a shift in the force that told them I was in the neighborhood and planning a drop in visit.

Lula had a funny look on her face and I saw her give a slight shudder. "Your grandma and mom are a bit freaky in how they knowed we was comin' before we even gets here."

I nodded, silently agreeing with her. We climbed out of the car and headed for the house. I raised my hand in the air as an acknowledgement. "Hey, Ma, Grandma."

Mom narrowed her eyes and studied me for several seconds before speaking. "Stephanie. How are you feeling today? Any dizzy spells? Nausea?"

My eyes widened. "Uhm…gee, no. I'm good to go. Why do you ask?"

Mom crossed herself. "Bella Morelli called and told me she'd had a vision. She said you were in danger from within. She also mentioned that there would be more of you soon."

I stood staring at my mother as if she'd gone off the deep end. After several seconds, I came to my senses, shaking my head to clear the thoughts that had been running through my mind about finding Bella and giving her some of her own medicine to see how she liked having someone get visions of her and share them with everyone and their brother.

Instead of letting my thoughts loose, I smiled weakly and suggested, "Why don't we go inside?"

As if they suddenly became aware of their lack in manners by keeping us on the porch instead of getting us inside, both Mom and Grandma snapped to and shepherded us inside. We made our way to the kitchen and Mom had us sitting at the table with a plate of blueberry muffins and cups of coffee in no time.

Grandma waited until I'd finished chewing my bite of muffing before she asked, "So, what brings you by so early?"

"Well, actually, I have a skip I could use your help with."

"Hot damn! I'm gonna get to pack heat and do some bounty huntering. About time you realized what an asset an old broad like me can be to you."

I took a sip of coffee working on how I could say what I needed to without hurting Grandma's feelings. "Uhm…gee, Grandma, that would be awesome, but Vinnie put a clause in my contract that says I can't have anyone over fifty in the car with me when I pick up the skips. If it wasn't for that clause, I'd love to have you with."

Lula gave me a look, her eyes were gleaming at my throwing Vinnie under the bus. Fortunately she didn't give the game away.

Grandma frowned. "Damn turd! I guess I know what side of the family that boil of an ass came from."

My mother gave a shocked gasp. "Mother! Must you say things like that?"

Grandma rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly.

I was doubly socked to hear my mother add under her breath, almost as if she wasn't aware she was speaking out loud. "Even if it is the truth."

My eyes widened and I'd noticed that Lula's eyes were nearly bugged out.

Before I could add anything, Grandma piped out, "So, what's up? What do you need my help with?"

"I need to pick up Ziggy Glitch…"

Before I could finish, both Mom and Grandma were up and backing away from the table with their fingers held up in front of them like crosses.

I set the muffin I was holding down on the plate in front of me, frowning at their actions. I noticed Lula seemed to be ignoring us and she'd taken a huge bite of muffin. I asked, "What's wrong?"

Grandma leaned forward to whisper, "Ziggy's a _vampire_!"

Lula started choking on the bite she'd taken and I stood and looked at her, trying to think what I should do. Grandma moved forward and grabbed her arm and lifted it into the air and whacked her between her shoulder blades. Lula was gasping and sputtering but she finally was able to breathe again. Here voice was a whispery rasp as she said, "Thanks, Granny."

We all sat back down and Grandma gave us the information on Ziggy. How he'd had his dentures altered and how he'd been going around town for years biting unsuspecting folks and turning them into vampires. Apparently, he'd seen someone feeding on an animal and to make sure Ziggy wouldn't go to the police, the man he'd seen turned him into a vampire as well.

Although I doubted the story had any truth to it, I knew I'd have my work cut out convincing Lula. I was proven right the minute we left my parents and had gotten back into my car. Lula was doing her best to convince me we needed to by-pass this skip. It was after all, Friday the thirteenth, and Halloween was fast approaching.

I quickly pointed out to Lula the skips age and informed her, the teeth in question were dentures and not real. Of course, she still wasn't convinced. I rolled my eyes as I listened to her rant.

"I don't care he got dentures, I'm telling you, white girl, it's not safe to go after his skinny old ass today. I think we need to go back home and forget the day started."

I pulled up to the curb and after turning off the car, I sat there waiting for the motor to catch on that the key was no longer in the ignition. When the engine was still sputtering several seconds later, I made a fist and brought it down on the dash, smiling as silence reigned in the car. I'd gotten my latest POS car from Two-Faced-Freddy for five hundred dollars. I'd had this car for all of two months now and I almost felt like my rotten luck of having cars explode on me was over. Just to be on the safe side, I made a knocking motion on the file laying on the seat between Lula and me. Folders were paper after all and paper came from the wood of trees, so that would count as knocking on wood…I hoped.

We climbed out of the car and once again headed up to the house where Ziggy lived, Lula mumbling about this being an unlucky day and all. We had nearly reached the door when my patience wore out and I turned to Lula and said, "All right, already! I get that you don't want to be here, but we are so just suck it up."

Lula's lower lip protruded and she said, "You gonna be sorry for treating me that way. I'm gonna be turned into a vampirese and it'll all come back and haunt you at how you been treatin' me."

I sighed. If anyone could make that happen, it would be Lula. I sent her a glare.

She rolled her eyes and mumbled softly, "Okay, I'm just saying, you gonna be sorry when I come at your skinny white ass 'cause I been turned into a vampire."

I shook my head and stepped up to knock on the door. There was no answer, and we couldn't hear any sounds from inside the house. Although I doubted I'd have any luck, I tried the doorknob and was surprised that the knob turned.

Lula whimpered and I turned to face her, sending her my best Burg-girl glare. She held her hands up and said, "Just sayin'."

I continued looking at her.

She took her fingers and made a zipping motion with them across her lips and then pretended to throw away the key.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the open doorway in front of me. I stepped inside and could tell by Lula's body pressing into my back that she was following me inside. As I made my way into the room, I could feel her breath on my neck. I turned to tell her she needed to back off and screamed as I saw Ziggy's mouth come down on Lula's neck and he made a sucking noise as he slurped at her neck.

Lula's arms started flapping and she was running around the room screaming, "Ah! I been bit! I been bit! I'm gonna turn into a vampirese. I told you this was a bad idea. Didn't I tell you this was a bad idea? You never listen to me. See, you should listen to me. Now I been bit by Mr. Vampire and I'm gonna turn into one and start sucking people's blood out of them."

There was a pitcher of water on a stand and I grabbed it and threw it in Lula's face, hoping to bring her out of the rant she was performing. As soon as the water hit her face, she stopped, turned, and glared at me. Her eyes narrowed. "That wasn't very considerate."

"Well, it was all I could think of to get your attention."

She turned, the glare still on her face as she faced Ziggy. She pulled her fist back and cold-cocked him a good one. He went down like a felled tree.

We both looked down at the man on the ground. Lula asked. "How we gonna get him to the car?"

I shrugged. "How about if we roll him up in the carpet?"

She nodded. "Works for me."

We worked together to roll Ziggy up in the area rug on the floor and struggled to carry him out to the car and stuff him in the back. It didn't take long to have him at the police station and Lula helped me carry him inside. I was a little shocked she was willing to enter the station and there was no complaining about her getting the runs or being allergic to the police.

We dropped Ziggy off and then headed back out to my car. On the way, I suggested buying Lula a bucket of extra crispy chicken to make up for throwing water on her. She accepted my offering and we headed to Cluck in a Bucket. We went in to dine and I had a snack pack while Lula ate her twenty-one pieces of chicken complete with sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, and cole slaw.

Once we'd finished,Lula and I headed out to get in my POS car and we were just in time to see Dracula on a motorcycle race by and drop a Molotov cocktail through the open window on the driver's side and speed off. Seconds later, my latest car was engulfed in flames.

I sat down on the curb and put my head in my hands. I felt the tell-tale tingle at the back of my neck and knew Ranger was close by. No sooner had that thought registered when I was lifted in the air and held close to his chest. I took a deep breath, breathing in his scent as I let my head fall to his shoulder. I was ready to burst into tears at the frustration I was feeling.

I felt Ranger tense and the reason became obvious seconds later when I heard Morelli ask, "Cupcake, are you all right?"

I lifted my head off Ranger's shoulder, giving Joe a weak smile. "I'm good to go."

I could see by the way he was looking at me that he wanted to say more, but his gaze went to Ranger and he stayed silent. There seemed to be some kind of non-verbal communication going on between the two of them. Whatever was going on, it didn't last long.

Ranger carried me to the Turbo and gently set me in the passenger seat before he turned to Lula and told her, "Tank will take you back to the bonds office so you can pick up your car, if that's all right."

Without waiting to see if she was okay with his arrangements, Ranger got in the driver's seat and headed us toward RangeMan. I couldn't understand why I was feeling so docile all of a sudden. Normally I would have had a fit if someone had lifted me like a little kid in front of all those people, let alone carrying me to the car and driving off with me as if I were some kind of prize.

Five minutes later we were sitting in the penthouse eating an impromptu lunch that Ella had put together for us.

Instead of eating in the kitchen as we normally would have, Ranger had arranged the food on a serving tray and we were sitting on the sofa in the den. I had my legs curled up beside me and had my head laying against his chest.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Are you planning on going back out, Babe?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. I think Lula was right and we should have just gone home and forgotten the day started. Ziggyactually bit her on the neck and now she thinks she's going to turn into a vampire." I lifted my head to look at Ranger. "Can you believe that? As if there really are such things as vampires."

I was puzzled by the look on Ranger's face, but he quickly masked it and I had to ask myself if I'd really even seen it, or if I'd imagined it. He gave a slight smile and asked if I wanted to watch a movie.

I bit my lip, worried that he was staying with me when there were more important things he probably needed to be doing. "Are you sure you don't have something else you need to do? I mean, I'm okay. After all, by now I'm an old hat at having my cars blow up on me."

Ranger pulled me close and kissed my forehead again. "I'm free for the rest of the day, Babe. As a matter of fact, except for the guys on monitors, none of the guys are working for the rest of the day."

I frowned. That was almost unheard of for all the guys to be off at the same time. I figured Ranger knew what he was doing though and just stayed silent.

Ranger seemed to take my silence for ascent because he powered the big screen on and I recognized the opening scenes of _Twilight_. As we watched, the stress of the day took its toll and I felt myself fighting to keep my eyes open.

We were at the part of the movie where a rival group of vampires had found Edward's family. Bella was there with them and the group wanted to attack her. Edward's family spread out to try and keep the other vampires away from her. She was alone, standing in a field. It was dusk and a mist mixed in with the surrounding trees.

I felt my heart beating heavily as I watched. I'd found myself in similar situations so many times—only the people after me were my stalkers. I felt what she must have felt in that moment. It was a feeling that these bad vampires were out there, watching her. They could move so fast, it wouldn't take more than a few seconds for them to reach her…there was movement, like a blur that moved too fast. She could only catch glimpses of them, they were all around her, never in the same place…where were they, would they get her?

The blaring sound of an alarm intruded into the best dream I'd had in a long time. One minute, Ranger was just about to give me a doomsday orgasm, the next minute I'm being pulled from sleep. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see the sun streaming into the bedroom and instead of the man I loved being in the bed beside me, I was on my own.

I sighed before throwing the covers back and slipping from the bed. I padded into the bathroom and answered nature's call. Once that was done I slipped into the shower. I debated making use of Ranger's portable shower head but knew I probably didn't have time for that. Instead, I quickly did what was necessary and then dried myself off before getting dressed for the day.

When I made my way to the kitchen, I was a bit surprised not to see the normal breakfast selections on the table. I'd become used to not having to forage for my own breakfast since I'd officially moved in with Ranger two weeks before. Ella always made sure that we had a selection of fresh fruit, bagels, and for Ranger there was always lox.

I pursed my lips before thinking to myself I was perfectly capable of finding something for breakfast. I went to the fridge but before I was able to pull it open, Ranger came staggering into the room. I hurried over to him to see if I could help him.

He was paler than I'd ever seen him before. I'd never seen Ranger sick, I'd always thought that germs wouldn't dare to invade his perfect temple. He allowed me to put my arm around him and he leaned against me as I helped him to the table so he could have a seat.

His voice was barely audible as he said, "I need the liquid in the fridge."

I hurried to the fridge. When I opened the door it was all I could do not to shudder at what I saw in there. If I didn't know better, I would say that Ranger's nutritious drink looked more like real blood than anything else I could think of. I shuddered, but reached in and pulled out a container of the liquid, taking it over to the table, I set it in front of Ranger.

To my surprise, he opened the bottle and drank straight from the container itself rather than pour the contents into a glass. He greedily drank the liquid, and I noticed that his color improved the more he drank. When he finished, he leaned back and there was such a look of rapture on his face. I felt a queasiness in my stomach that usually showed up right before something went drastically wrong.

Ranger set the container down on the table harder than I expected and I jumped at the sound. He smiled and my eyes widened. I'd never known his teeth to be quite so…_sharp_, before.

I swallowed hard before I backed up a couple of steps. "I need to get to the bonds office. Would you mind if I took one of the vehicles in the garage?"

His smile widened. "Are you sure you want to go to work, Babe. We could spend the morning…otherwise engaged."

Holy hot flash! I bit my lip and the sudden metallic taste of blood permeated my senses. Ranger suddenly sat up straighter as his gaze heated on my mouth. His eyes glazed over as he stood and moved with a speed I'd never seen before, closing in on where I was standing.

I had a sudden moment of panic and put up a hand to stop him. "I really do have to go in today. I have several skips that need picked up today if I want to be able to afford the car that's now on the top of my to buy list."

By now he'd managed to get within touching distance and his hand landed on my arm. At the icy coldness of his touch I squeaked, just barely managing not to let the scream loose that was lodged in the back of my throat.

I smiled weakly, leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back in a bit. Will you be in your office?"

"I'm off until the first of November. This is something we do every year. Starting the fourteenth of October, most of the guys and I take our yearly vacation, leaving a skeleton crew monitoring the clients' businesses."

I was totally confused, but something was telling me not to ask too many questions and for once, I was listening to the little voice inside warning me to tread carefully. I smiled. "Well, that's good. Maybe once I get these skips in the bag, I can join you on this vacation."

Ranger leaned down and covered my mouth with his.

I tried to relax but, when he started sucking on the spot where I'd bit my lip causing it to bleed, I freaked a bit and started to panic. I managed to pull away and gave him the best smile I could muster. "I really gotta go. I'll be back later."

On shaky legs, I made my way down in the elevator to the garage and grabbed a set of keys out of the box where all the keys were housed. I pressed the little button to see what vehicle I was driving today and the Cayenne beeped back at me. I smiled and headed over to my favorite ride…well, second…no, better make that third favorite ride. The Turbo came in second to Batman.

In no time I made the trip to the bonds office. I frowned when I saw that the office was closed, wondering what was going on. There would have to be a catastrophe of epic proportions in order for Vinnie to close up the office. I sat there for a couple of seconds and then fished my phone out and put a call into Lula.

"Lo."

"Lula? Where are you? Why isn't anyone at the bonds office?"

"Ith noth feeing oo goood toodaaaaeee. Ith taing ha day ofth."

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it as if it was a snake that might bite me. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting worse by the minute. I rolled my eyes and wondered if this was Lula's way of making me feel sorry for her since Ziggy had gummed her neck yesterday.

I sighed, asking, "What if I stop by with some doughnuts and you can tell me about it while we go bring in the skips we didn't get to yesterday?"

"Shorry, Shef. Noth an do. Ith really noth feeing goood."

I bit back another sigh and just nodded, even though I knew there was no way she could see me through the phone. "Alright, Lula. Hope you get feeling better. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Oathay, Sheffanie."

I disconnected the call and debated what my next move would be. I still had to get the rest of the skips so I decided to just head out and go for the next one on my list. I put the Cayenne in motion and headed out after Vlad Tepes. The man was said to be in the country visiting friends. He was a native of Transylvania.

The address I had was in the Pine Barrens. I pulled out my cell and pressed the speed-dial function for the number two and waited for Ranger to answer.

I didn't have long to wait before the familiar, "Yo," sounded in my ear.

"Hey, Ranger. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be late getting back. I need to head out to the Pine Barrens to pick up a skip."

There was an eerie silence before he asked, "Who are you going after?"

"Vlad Tepes."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Babe. Why don't you swing by here and Tank and I will go with you."

I frowned. "This guy's a low bond. I think I can handle it on my own, but thanks for the offer. I'll see you when I get back to RangeMan."

When I hung up, I heard Ranger saying, "Stephanie…" but I'd disconnected before I could hear anymore. I relaxed into the seat and settled in for the long drive.

When I passed the Country Club, I knew I was getting close. I turned onto Toms River Road and continued on until I got to the Cranberry Bog. There was a creepy three story house that looked like it had walked right off the set of a Hollywood monster movie. I inched the Cayenne up the drive, for the first time regretting not taking Ranger up on his offer of help.

I parked as close to the entrance as I could and went to reach for the door handle. I felt something cold race down my spine and I shivered. Pulling my coach bag close, I wrapped my hand around my stun gun and carefully opened the door before getting out and making my way to the front door.

The sky suddenly grew dark, eclipsing the sun as the wind picked up and rustled the leaves still left on the trees as a mist sprang up all around me. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, the fog was too thick. I was standing alone out here in the middle of nowhere, every so often I'd catch a glimpse at the trees surrounding me. I felt my heart beating heavily as I tried to see through the foggy mist. I felt as if there was something out there, watching me. Every so often I would catch a glimpse of movement but it was gone before I had the chance to find out what had made the movement. Whatever it was could move fast. It would only take it a few seconds to reach me. Who was out there? Would they get me?

Suddenly they were there beside me. I screamed as I watched Ranger…or what I thought was Ranger lock into battle with my worst nightmare. It was the vision that had haunted my dreams when I was younger and had watched a Dracula movie. The scariest part was that both Ranger and the other man appeared like what I'd imagined vampires to look like.

The battle was intense, but over in seconds and the other man whipped his cape around him and disappeared. Ranger strode toward me and I was too frightened to move as he took me in his arms and whispered, "Babe. I didn't think we would get here in time."

There was a howl behind me and I turned to see the hairiest creature, standing on two feet, his familiar voice asked, "Are you okay, Cupcake?"

My mouth dropped open as I looked from Ranger to Morelli. My voice was barely a whisper as I asked, "What's going on here?"

Ranger wrapped me in his arms and although I was freaked, I still felt a sense of security in his arms. I knew then that no matter what, I would always love this man. I knew he would never hurt me. He lowered his head so his lips were near my ear. "I'd hoped you'd never find out my secret, Babe. This is our lot in life. From the fourteenth of October until daybreak on the first of November."

I swallowed hard. Just as I was about to tell Ranger that it didn't matter to me, I loved him no matter what, I felt the menace return in force. Suddenly, all around us were the people we knew so well. Connie, Vinnie, Lula, the guys from the police department and fire department as well as other friends were there beside the creepy vampire guy.

Ranger and Joe put me between them to protect me better and for a moment I felt relief as I saw Tank and the rest of the Merry Men join the group. My relief was short-lived as the group came at us in force.

A scream rent the air and I sat bolt upright. Warm arms wrapped around me and I heard Ranger telling me that I was safe, it was just a dream. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was seated as I'd been when we'd sat down to watch the movie. I looked over at the TV and saw the closing credits were playing.

I shuddered and nestled against Ranger's chest. "I had the worst nightmare."

He caressed my hair and talked nonsense to me, seeming to try and comfort me. "You're safe, Babe. I've got you."

Eventually he got me to tell him all about my dream. When I'd finished, he merely shook his head and said, "That was quite some dream."

Once I'd totally calmed down, Ranger carried me to bed where he proceeded to make us both, very, very happy. When I woke up the next morning and found myself alone, there was a moment of panic before I realized the room was way too bright for the nightmare to be occurring once again. I slipped out of bed and took care of my daily routine in the bathroom before dressing and heading out to the kitchen.

Ranger was seated at the table looking over a folder. He closed the file quickly, as if he'd heard me enter the room and then he looked up at me and smiled. "What's on the agenda today, Babe?"

I had a feeling he was trying to put me off something, so I asked, "What do you have there?"

He placed his hand over mine that had reached for the file. "It's nothing. Just a job that I'm doing for the charity event on Halloween."

I narrowed my eyes on him. "Then why don't you want me to see it?"

His gaze met mine, then he took my hand in his and pulled me down onto his lap. "After that dream you had last night, I didn't want to upset you with this."

I frowned. "Why would I be upset?"

He moved the file in front of me and I knew he was allowing me the opportunity to look inside. I opened it and took a look at the information that was there.

My confusion must have been written on my face because her clarified, "We've been hired by the gala organizers to provide security. It seems the actors who portray these characters have been getting threatening letters. Someone is promising to make their roles in the movie reality."

I looked at Ranger, stunned. "You mean, someone thinks they can turn these characters into vampires and wherewolves?"

He winced. "Apparently. The actors will be dressed as their characters from the movie for this event. I've agreed to have my men act as bodyguards and we'll be the security presence."

I frowned, still not understanding his initial reaction. "So, why were you reluctant to let me know about this?"

He caressed my jaw. "I didn't want to bring back the bad memories from your nightmare, Babe."

I leaned forward and kissed him. When we came up for air, I let him know, "I'm okay. I'd like to help you, if you think I could be useful."

He grinned. "Are you kidding. You'd be perfect to shadow Bella. You have good instincts, and I think you might be our ace in the hole to identifying this person. I'd like you to go over all the notes and do background information on everyone involved with the group."

I nodded. "All right. I'll get started on it right away."

He placed his hand at the back of my neck and brought me in so his mouth could cover mine. My eyes were glazed over with lust when we came up for air and the last thing I wanted to do was to go downstairs and go to work.

As I looked into his eyes, they were heated with desire and I knew he didn't want to go downstairs any more than I did. I leaned forward and placed my lips against his. I let my tongue run over his bottom lip before I whispered, "Or can the searches wait for just a bit?"

He growled and stood, cupping my ass as he carried me back to bed.

**OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO**

When Ranger and I finally managed to make our way down to the fifth floor, he walked me to my cubicle before heading to his own office.

I logged onto my computer and started typing in the information to get the searches started. The first thing I did was google the actors that played the characters. I ran a detailed search on each of them, thinking that if one of them had an obsessed fan that it might show up and we could eliminate these people as possible suspects.

There were a handful of red flags so I took those and started detailed searches on these people as well. I'd just started the last one going when the phone on my desk rang. Picking it up, I used Ranger's standard for hello. "Yo."

There was a chuckle on the other end. "That's my line, Babe."

I smiled into the phone even though I knew he couldn't see me. "What do you need?"

There was a low moan. "That's a loaded question."

I felt the heat from his voice race to my doodah and closed my eyes on a moan myself. Just then Lester's head popped over the top of my cubicle and he waggled his eyebrows at me as he said, "I could help you with that, Beautiful."

There was a low growl from behind Lester and he froze in place. The look on his face was comical. I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out laughing.

A voice from behind Lester demanded, "If you don't want to make a trip to Iceland, I suggest you put your eyes back in your head and get back to work, Santos!"

Lester snapped to attention and turned around, saluted Ranger and said, "Yes, _sir_! Getting back to work, _sir_!"

He disappeared from view and a minute later, Ranger walked into sight. He held his hand out as he said, "I think it's time for an early lunch, Babe."

Knowing I had the searches running and there wasn't much I could do until they were done, I decided to do what I wanted and I took his hand and walked with him to the elevator where we made our way back up to the penthouse. Once we were inside the apartment, Ranger lifted me and carried me through to the bedroom.

Three hours later we'd just finished dressing again when Ranger received a call. Once he'd finished talking to whoever was on the other end, he replaced the phone in his utility belt and turned to me. "The nine people we will be providing bodyguards for are here. Apparently there was an attempt on them at the hotel where they've been staying."

I frowned. "Where are you going to put them until the party? I mean, the gala is the thirty-first, right? That's seventeen days away."

Ranger lifted an eyebrow.

My eyes widened. "You're going to put them up at RangeMan, aren't you?"

He gave a single nod of his head. "There's a vacant apartment on six where the girls will be able to stay. The problem will be who to get to stay with them."

I pursed my lips as my eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to tell me we're going to have to sleep in different apartments for the next two plus weeks?"

"It's not my first choice. Do you have another option for me?"

I bit my lip, then sighed. "I'm going to need very long lunches, or lots and lots of doughnuts." Then as an afterthought I added, "Probably both."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, then he leaned down and kissed me until I was ready to melt in a puddle on the floor.

Before this ended up back in the bedroom, we reluctantly drew back and headed down to the conference room on the fifth floor. As we walked from the elevator to the conference room, Ranger's hand rest at the small of my back.

My eyes widened as I got my first look at the people in the conference room. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but what I got was the nine characters I knew best from the Twilight series in costume.

The actors that portrayed the characters looked up as we entered the room. This could get a bit confusing trying not to mix up the character's names with the actor's real names. In order to simplify everything, I decided to just refer to them as their character names instead.

Bella, Edward, and Jacob were seated together, and each of the guys was holding one of Bella's hands. It only took me a couple of minutes to categorize their appearance as my gaze went from one to the other.

Edward was slightly taller than Ranger with the slimmer build of a swimmer as opposed to a football player. His most notable feature was his reddish-brown hair, and he had golden eyes.

I registered that his gaze zeroed in on Ranger and me as we entered the room before I let my own gaze move to the woman beside him.

Bella was a couple inches shorter than my own five foot seven, she had long, wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and an average body type about like mine. She had her head down and seemed to be extremely upset which had me wondering if she'd been the target of the most recent attack.

My gaze moved to the man on her other side. Jacob was about the same height as Edward. He had short brown hair, but not as short as Emmett's. He had a great body, muscular yet not as bulky as Emmett's.

He too was looking our way as if demanding that we give them the answers they needed.

I looked up at Ranger and he sent me a wink before leading me to the place where we'd be sitting. Once we'd sat down, I let my gaze run over the other three pairings. The first couple was the Carlisle and Esme characters.

Carlisle was the same height as Jasper, with blond hair styled in a standard men's cut that didn't go past his shoulders. He too looked more like a swimmer in build than a weight lifter or football player.

Esme was slightly taller than the other three girls with long, caramel-colored hair, golden eyes, and a build similar to Bella's.

I couldn't help but smile as I saw the way Esme was looking at Cal…or more precisely, the flaming skull tattoo on his shaved head.

From the looks of the seating arrangement, Ranger had assigned the guys to the people they would be guarding, and poor Esme was the lucky one to have Cal. Vince was seated beside Carlisle, so I knew the two men would be working together.

On the other side of Vince, Jasper was seated. He was shorter than the first two, somewhere between my height and Ranger's. His honey blond hair was long, but didn't quite reach his shoulders and he too was sporting the golden eyes. His build was similar to Edward's. He seemed quieter, more solumn than the others.

Beside Jasper was Alice, she had short brown, spiky hair, golden eyes, and although she was the same height as the other two, she had a more petite frame, kind of pixie-like.

Bobby and Ram were between them and the final couple, Emmett and Rosalie.

Emmett was the same height as Edward but more muscular, like a weight lifter or football player. He had short, dark brown curly hair and golden eyes.

Beside him was Rosalie. She was one of those lucky women that were curvy—especially up top, with long blond hair and golden eyes. She was a beautiful woman.

I rolled my eyes as I noticed that Lester was seated beside her, and his eyes were already roaming over her…assets. I was surprised to see Hal beside Lester because he and Bobby usually partnered together on details like this.

On the other side of Hal, or Halosaurus as Lula and I kindly thought of him—since he was the size of a baby Stegosaurus, was Ranger.

I was amazed at the realism of the costumes that the characters were wearing. Bella was the only character that was human, and Jacob was the lone werewolf. The rest were vampires. Considering the dream I'd had last night and the run-in Lula and I'd had yesterday, I was a bit creeped out, but Ranger's warm hand on my lower back was reassuring.

Ranger, Tank, and I were seated at the head of the oval-shaped table. There was a laptop in front of my seat and I knew that was so that I would be able to check on the progress of the searches that I'd started earlier in the day.

Ranger, Tank, and I were seated at the head of the oval-shaped table. There was a laptop in front of my seat and I knew that was so that I would be able to check on the progress of the searches that I'd started earlier in the day.

Ranger started the meeting by asking, "Is everyone here?"

Edward frowned. "Olsen is missing. We haven't seen him since last night. He's the one that set up this gala event."

I frowned. There had been no mention of anyone named Olsen in any of the information I'd received. I pulled the laptop closer and asked, "Can you give me Olsen's information?"

There was an awkward silence.

I looked up from my computer to the people sitting around the table with us. Each of them looked uncomfortable. My eyes narrowed as I had a sudden thought, but knew I needed proof before we could act. My only comment was, "Tell me what you can. If you have a picture, I'll need that as well."

There was still silence, but this time they were looking around at each other as if they were hoping one of the others was going to tell me what they knew I'd need to know.

I looked over at Ranger. I was nauseous and my stomach was doing back flips. Ranger asked the question that was on all of our minds. "Have any of you met Olsen?"

Shakes of the heads and a few mutters of no were the only response.

I turned back to my computer and let my hands hover over the keys for a moment. Then I closed my eyes for a moment before once again opening them and letting my fingers type. If nothing else, we'd have a starting point and could at least eliminate something, even if it was a minor point. When I finished typing, I sat back and told them, "The only thing we can do now is wait until the search is completed. Now, the next thing to do is to look at all the warning. We might get something off them that would get us a step closer to finding out who's behind these threats."

Alice moved around in her seat for a few seconds and then asked, "Is there really a chance that Olsen is the one behind all this? I mean, he seems like part of the family. He's been arranging these parties since shortly after Twilight came out. We've raised a lot of money for charity."

I lifted one of my shoulders in a half shrug. "It's hard to say. He might just be really opposed to being in the spot-light, or he might have been carefully maneuvering you into the position you now find yourselves in."

Bella suddenly stood and started to pace. "I hate this. I feel like I'm climbing the walls because we've been under lock and key for so long now with this whoever it is that's been taunting us."

I could see by the looks on the rest of the group's faces that they were feeling the same way. I felt a kinship to them because they were feeling exactly as I would be in their situation. I stood and walked over to where Bella was standing, her arms wrapped around her waist. "We'll find him. We've had lots of experience with stalkers."

Bella gave a disbelieving half laugh, her tone bitter as she asked, "What could you possibly know about stalkers?"

There was the sound of choking laughter from the table and I turned back to glare at the guys before telling them, "No comment from the peanut gallery." I turned back to Bella and shrugged. She was looking at me curiously, the bitterness no longer visible.

I sighed…rolled my eyes…and then reluctantly admitted, "I'm the Bombshell Bounty Hunter."

There was shocked silence in the room for several seconds.

Bella ran her hand through her hair, pulling it back from her face a she said, "I guess you do know where I'm coming from then."

I nodded, giving a weak smile. "Just a bit."

There was a dinging and I moved back to the computer and opened up the screen so I could see what had been found. My eyes widened as I got my first look at the house where the gala was going to take place. I felt a clod chill race down my spine.

What I was feeling must have come through in my body language because Ranger stood and placed his hands on my shoulders. "What is it, Babe?"

I showed him the screen.

He frowned. "What' significant about that house?"

I looked up at him and admitted, "That's the house that was in the dream I told you about."

He looked down at the screen once more and then strode to the door and opened it. His voice was deadly soft, yet loud enough for the men on the floor to hear him. "Hector, Manny, Junior and Binkie."

We didn't have long to wait till all four men had joined our meeting. Ranger motioned to the laptop and said, "I want a team to go in and go over the house with everything you have. We're moving in as soon as you have it cleared."

My eyes widened at the piece of news. "Uh, you mean all of us? Actually living in that house?"

He leaned down, his heated breath warming me as he said, "Don't worry, Babe. I'll protect you. Always."

I took a deep breath before letting out a sigh. _Shit_!

**OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO**

The thirty-first of October came much too soon, yet on the other hand, it wasn't soon enough. The house had been cleared and we had all moved in within two days. Added to the group that had secured the house, the security detail, and the actors from Twilight, was Connie and Lula. They'd come along to help entertain the women. Oh…uhm, and my Grandma Mazur. To say this had been an adventure would be putting it mildly.

Tonight's party was going to be a cross between a fancy dinner and a haunted house. All of us girls had gotten together and mapped out just where the frights were going to be placed. I'd let Connie and Lula run with the theme since I was splitting my time between that and searching for Olsen and trying to figure out who might be targeting this group.

Bella proved to be a great asset in running the searches, and she and I had been spending a lot of time together. The guys had been working with Ranger and the Merry Men in laying the traps to catch the stalker or possible stalkers.

Ella and Louis had arrived bright and early so that Ella could get the food ready for tonight and Louis was helping the guys with what was needed.

Earlier today I'd taken all the girls with to the Quaker Bridge Mall where Lula, Connie, Grandma, and I got our costumes and the other girls were able to enjoy a much needed day out. Even if we did have an over-abundance of security with us.

The highlight of the day was when the makeup girl at Macy's had asked Lula if she was dressing up as a vampire this year. Lula went ballistic.

"Why for you asking me that?"

The woman had replied, "Well, I noticed you've had your teeth sharpened. My friends and I did the same thing the first year after Twilight came out."

Lula hmfd. "Well I ain't doing no vampire thing. It's bad enough I been bit by one a couple weeks ago."

Esme's eyes widened. "You were really bitten by a vampire?"

"Well, yeah. Me an white girl went to bring in a skip and he wasn't of a mind to come with us and done bit my neck. Lucky for me I have such a svelt figure or I wouldn't have got away from the slimmy little sucker."

Some people might consider Lula as corpulent, but she'd consider that an insult. And when someone insulted Lula, she went into Rhino mode. I looked around at the expensive items on display and prayed that no one insulted Lula while we were so close to all this.

Rosalie studied Lula carefully, even going so far as to lean in so she was a fraction of an inch away from her face.

Lula's eyes widened. "Uh, I hate to tell you, but you are seriously creeping me out here."

Rosalie frowned. "Sorry. But, you know, the makeup girl has a point. My teeth have never been quite that sharp, no matter what the special effects guys did to them."

Lula turned to me, her eyes wild and I knew we were heading for a major meltdown if we didn't get out of here now. I herded our little group over to the costume display a few aisles over and took a deep breath that the more expensive items were no longer in harm's way.

We'd just grabbed our costumes when Grandma rejoined us and asked, "Well? What do you think of my costume?"

We turned and our mouths dropped open in stunned horror.

We managed to get the van loaded with our purchases and we were moving to get in the vehicle as well when I felt a cold chill race down my spine. My stomach was suddenly tied in knots and I recognized this as my spidey sense trying to tell me something was off. I stopped and looked around. I knew the Merry Men were out there and they would know by my actions that something wasn't right.

Sure enough, my cell phone rang and when I connected the call, Lester's voice was in my ear telling me, "Get in the van, Beautiful, and move out as if nothing is wrong. We're right behind you and we have a team waiting to see if we pick up a tail."

I smiled into the phone and replied, "Well that is good news. Thanks for calling, Shirley."

I climbed into the van and turned to the others. "Make sure your seat belts are on and hang on."

We moved out into the flow of traffic and I noticed we had company. Something about the vehicle gave me the heebie jeebies. I hoped Lester knew what he was doing. We headed back toward Trenton. I figured if we needed more help, there were a lot of people there that I knew would help us.

I could hear the girls talking in the back. Alice was wondering if we shouldn't have had one of the guys come and drive us.

I smiled inwardly as I heard Lula's response. "Naw. Them Merry men ain't got nothin' on white girl."

Esme piped in, "Still, I think we'll feel better when we get back to the house."

Bella disagreed. "I hate the trapped feeling when we are at the house. I might not like them following us, but this is better than sitting around and doing nothing."

Just then there was an explosion and the van started careening across the center line of the freeway. I struggled to keep from hitting oncoming traffic as I tried to steer us to the side of the road. I glanced briefly at the vehicles behind us and I got a funny feeling as I didn't see any of the SUVs that I knew had to be on our trail. Then I started wondering. If they had done something to disable our vehicle, couldn't they also have disabled the SUVs?

I stopped trying to slow down and pull over to the side and I hit the panic button on the dash. Not only would that tell the guys following us where we were, but it would alert the rest of RangeMan that there was a problem.

As I fought to keep the van moving and in my own lane, Rosalie leaned forward to ask, "Why aren't we pulling over?"

I didn't bother to turn around as I answer her. "Those guys behind us aren't the good guys."

Once they noticed that we weren't pulling over, the vehicles sped up. I concentrated on keeping us going and not being forced off the road. Connie opened her window and on the other side of the van, Lula opened hers and they both fired off shots to warn whoever was following us that this wouldn't be the walk in the park they thought it would be.

We continued to play freeway keep-away for the next several minutes, and I did the best I could to evade the bullets that were now being aimed our way to try and make us stop. Connie and Lula sent an answering round back at them and we'd continue the dance.

About twenty minutes later I heard Connie's, "Uh oh."

Lula's, "Roger that uh oh and double it."

I briefly looked in the rearview mirror to see Grandma pull her canon from her purse and lean out the window to squeeze off a shot. The backfire from it knocked her into the back of Lula and the gun fell from Grandma's grip and went flying out the window. I watched in the side-view mirror as it flipped in the air and came crashing down on the hood of the lead vehicle following us. There was an explosion where the gun met the heat from the hood and the car leapt a couple feet in the air before coming back down on the second car. There was another explosion and then cars were running into other cars, causing a massive pileup.

I braked and brought us to a stop. I looked at Lula and Connie. "You ladies have your stun guns and pepper spray?"

They nodded.

Grandma pulled a stun gun from her purse and said, "I'm locked and loaded too, baby girl."

"Grandma, give Bella your stun gun and get in the back with the other girls."

Grandma wasn't thrilled I was curtailing her fun, but she did as I asked.

I turned to Bella and showed her how the thing worked. Connie and Lula were each by one of the side doors, and Bella and I were ready in the front. There was an increasing menace in the air and I felt the heat of wings flapping. I looked around but there was nothing there. My eyes felt heavy and just before they closed, I heard the click of a door just before it opens. I yelled to the others, "Now!"

Everything was a blur of motion. We pressed the stun guns against the flesh coming at us and pressed the trigger. There was the smell of sulfur but my eyes didn't register anything human in the area. The four of us looked at each other as the sound of screeching tires reached us and seconds later I was held tightly in Ranger's arms as Edward and Jacob gathered around Bella.

The rest of the guys quickly followed. As the rest of the girls crawled out of the van, Esme ran into Carlisle's arms, Jasper wrapped Alice in his arms, and Emmett held Rosalie protectively in his arms.

Lula looked around her and then snuggled up closer to Tank. When I saw the big guy blush, I couldn't stop the smile that graced my face, but the real kicker was when Grandma wrapped her arms around Lester's neck and jumped into his arms so he had no choice but to catch her if she wasn't to fall and hurt herself. He was too much of a gentleman to let that happen.

The real surprise was when Hal moved to hover over Connie.

Lula and I both watched, astounded when she blushed.

Ranger maneuvered it so that each of the girls would ride with the guy that was holding them as well as their bodyguards. Bella and I went in the Cayenne with Edward, and Ranger. Connie was included with Hal's group and Tank took Lula in his truck and followed at the tail end of our little convoy.

When we got back to the house, there was just enough time to get cleaned up and dressed for the party. By the time I descended the stairs, the others were all joined in the parlor where the Twilight characters would be greeting the guests. It was set up so that they would go through the haunted house the guys set up and then find their seats in the ballroom. There they would enjoy the classical music that would play until the rest of us made our way in to join them.

I was a bit disappointed that we were going to miss out on the haunted house part, but I figured we'd had enough excitement for the day.

Bella turned to me and asked, "Does your friend always act like this?"

I turned to Lula and had to admit she was acting a bit different tonight. "This isn't as far out there as you might think."

Bella shuddered. "She's kind of creeping me out. She's doing some of the same things the girls do in the movies when they need to be fed."

I swallowed hard.

Edward leaned down to Bella. "Are you cold? You have goosebumps on your shoulders. That doesn't usually happen unless you're nervous."

Bella smiled up at him, raising her hand to rest against the side of his face.

Edward moved his cheek in her hand, like a cat rubbing against someone's leg, there was a look of rapture on his face. He'd just lowered his head till he was a breath away from Bella when I felt an icy chill run down my spine.

I stiffened, looking around to try and identify the danger.

The man that stepped into the room reminded me of someone, but I was having a hard time trying to identify him. He seemed to float over to where we were standing and the look of greedy lust in his eyes as he looked over the girls gave me pause. Then he turned the same look on me and I moved closer to Ranger.

The man's voice was hypnotic as he spoke. "It is a true pleasure to finally meet with you. Everyone has finally arrived and as soon as we make our way to the ballroom, the gala event can begin."

Ranger went to move us directly through to the other room, but the newcomer raised his hand. "Let's not disappoint the ladies by not allowing them to have the pleasure of the haunted house."

Rosalie spoke up, "I'd be willing to pass."

Cold black eyes moved slowly to where she was standing. The man's eyes narrowed causing Rose to pale.

Ranger pulled me closer to him as he nonchalantly said, "I don't recall you giving your name."

The black eyes turned to look us over. "I didn't. You can call me…Olsen."

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "You're the elusive Olsen that we've never met?"

The man bowed. "At your service, Master Emmett."

Something about the way he said that gave me a cold chill as goosebumps broke out on my arms. I tried to get closer to Ranger but I couldn't seem to share his skin. Even then I wasn't sure if I'd be close enough. This guy really freaked me out.

I could see that the others weren't taking this any better than I was. Jacob closed in on Bella's other side so she was protected between Edward and himself. "So, where did you disappear to?"

There was menace in Olsen's gaze as he turned on Jacob. You could literally see him pulling himself back so it didn't appear he was ready to attack him. "I didn't _disappear_. I've been making things ready for the ascension."

I shivered as thoughts of Orin came back to haunt me. He'd talked about that shit and his idea on how I would achieve that was to be burned to a crisp. I looked up at Ranger and noticed his jaw clenching. He was standing in what appeared to be a relaxed position, but I knew from experience that he was anything but relaxed.

Lula suddenly rushed up and said, "There's a problem. Granny went missing. No one has seen her for nearly ten minutes."

There was a look of glee on Olsen's face. I narrowed my eyes on him for several seconds before turning to Lula and asking, "When's the last time you saw her?"

"She wanted to run through the haunted house."

I nodded. "That works, then. We were just heading that way ourselves and we'll be able to look for her. You and Connie help the guys to keep an eye on things in the ballroom. We'll be there shortly."

Bella reached out and touched my arm. "Let us help you look for your grandma. She's a nice lady and I'd hate to see anything happen to her."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Alice added, "Time's a wastin'. Let's rock and roll."

Lester let loose a chuckle before he winked at me. "We'll find your granny, Beautiful. More than likely we'll end up rescuing the guy she has treed."

My bottom lip trembled. Ranger leaned down and said, "Les is right, Babe. Your grandma is a force to be reckoned with."

Carlisle made the first move toward the door that led to the part of the house that had been booby-trapped for the guests. Cal moved ahead of him and took the point and everyone else fell in line. Olsen went to follow and Hector moved out of the shadow and moved in behind him. Edward moved after Hector, with Bella and then Jacob following him. I moved to follow them and Ranger brought up the rear, making sure we weren't attacked from behind.

For the most part, it was fun going through, like the fun houses I'd gone to when I was a kid. As we got deeper in, things turned from fun to almost too real very quickly. We were coming up to the main room. It was spacious, and there was a coffin in the middle of the room.

This area was lit by dozens of white candles, and the minute we stepped into the room, the door slammed behind us and the other two doors leading from the room slammed as well.

A sudden gust of wind whipped through the room and snuffed out the majority of the candles, leaving only a token few still lit. Olsen seemed to float over to where the coffin was set, a sick smile on his face. That's when I remembered where I'd seen him before.

My eyes widened, but before I could say anything, he started to speak. "Velcome to my home. So glad to have all of you joining me." His gaze moved to Jacob. "Well, most of you anyway. Not to worry. My…offspring will make sure you don't suffer too much."

I could see Jacob fighting to keep his fear hidden.

As I saw Olsen scowl at the lack of response, I got an idea. Bella was the closest to me and I whispered in her ear. "He feeds on our reactions. You guys are actors, you need to act like your characters. Think of this as another movie that you are in and we all need to work together to beat the bad guy."

She turned, her eyes met mine, then she nodded. We both started inching toward the others in the group and while Jacob engaged Olsen in a conversation about Olsen's plans, we let the others know our plan. When I finally moved back beside Ranger, he winked at me as he placed his hand on the back of my neck.

Suddenly, it was as if someone had yelled "action". Bella and the others went into an improvised script, making the story up as they went.

Edward stepped forward till he was beside Jacob, "Why did you bring us here?"

Olsen turned to him and bowed. "To share my home, Master."

Rosalie scoffed, "You don't seem to feel the same about Jacob."

Olsen glared. "There is no room for the jackal here."

It was Bella who spoke up this time. "He's as much a part of our group as anyone."

Olsen stepped threateningly toward her. "You are only here on sufferance so don't question me. If Edward wasn't so enamored of you, I would have no compunction of making sure you suffered the same fate as _him_." As he said the last, he pointed to Jacob.

Esme shook her head. "You don't know us very well if you think we'll let you destroy Jacob. He's a part of us."

Olsen turned to her. "Ah. But you haven't yet truly crossed over." His gaze moved to Bella and then myself before he continued. "You two will be allowed to be here. Your mates will be easier to handle with you beside them."

Jasper moved, drawing Olsen's gaze to him and the others moved into position as if they were readying themselves to act against him.

Just then I heard a pounding sound coming from the coffin. My eyes widened as I wondered what the chances were that I'd found Grandma.

The sound caused Olsen to turn, a strange glow in his eyes and when he turned back around his eyes were golden, much like the characters of _Twilight_. He opened his mouth in a sneering smile and the razor sharpness of his teeth gave me chills.

I saw my opening and hurried over to the coffin, quickly opening the lid. As I'd started to lift the lid, I heard a snarl behind me but didn't turn to see what was going on. I knew Ranger would have my back. The sounds of flesh meeting flesh told me there was a real fight going on and I needed to hurry. I'd managed to get the id all the way up and my heart nearly stopped as I saw my Grandma lying there with her hands folded on her chest.

Her eyes popped open and it was all I could do not to scream as I noticed the golden glow of her eyes. She winked at me and moved her hand in order to give me a gun. This wasn't just any gun either. This gun had the handle of a steak attached to the barrel with a razor sharp point aiming toward whatever the gun would be used on. She nodded and I took hold of the gun and turned to Olsen.

The guys were in a circle around Olsen and he would fly at one of them and the two would lock into battle. Ranger and the rest of the Merry Men were careful to make sure Edward, Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett weren't pulled into the battle. From the intensity of the clashes, the only way they would have a chance was if they actually were the vampires they portrayed.

Esme, Bella, Rosalie and Alice were off to the side with Jacob, Hal, and Bobby. I helped Grandma over to where they were and then went to move to the circle so I could help Ranger.

Bobby placed a hand on my arm. "Stay here with us, Steph. Ranger would be devastated if you were hurt."

I shook my head. I held up the gun Grandma had given me and said, "I think this is the only chance we have of ending this battle."

He nodded and let me continue over to the group. I took my place between Ranger and Tank. Both men were breathing hard. This was a first. I'd never seen anyone get the guys to this point, and Olsen seemed to be going strong. For the first time I was worried. I knew Ranger would die protecting me. I didn't want it to come to that.

Olsen flew in our direction and Tank went to meet him. The clashed and the force nearly knocked me on my ass. That's when I realized I was holding the gun. I took aim and waited. Tank moved away from him back to my other side and Olsen turned and smiled at Ranger.

The look on his face was nearly rapturous. "Now it's time to make fantasy reality." He took a running start and jumped into the air, coming for Ranger. I lifted the weapon in my hand and fired. The stake moved through the air with precision and sliced into Olsen's chest. He threw back his head and laughed. "Do you really think a simple steak through the heart will kill me? Tsk, tsk." He shook his head.

Grandma moved forward. "It's not just any old steak. That's a Hungarian spiked steak. Looks smooth going in, you don't feel a thing. But try pulling it out?"

Olsen started sweating. "I'll just leave it in then."

Grandma cackled. "You do that, sonny. That will allow the poison to filter into your bloodstream all the faster."

It was in his eyes. In that moment, he knew he was dying. He hissed at Grandma. "What did you use, old woman?"

Grandma smiled. "An old Hungarian poultice. It was developed in the fifteenth century when a young Transylvanian prince visited our little village. A lot of young girls were found in their beds dead in the morning. Thing is, no one could figure out what was killing them. The only thing they had in common was the fact that all the blood had been sucked from their bodies."

Olsen seemed to be struggling with something. His eyes narrowed and it seemed as if he were trying to get a closer look at Grandma. Suddenly his eyes widened and he gasped, "No!"

Grandma cackled again. "What's the matter, your highness? Cat got your tongue?"

"How?" was all he said.

She nodded. "I'll bet that's a question you'll go to your grave wondering."

Olsen made a hideous face as he clutched the steak coming from his chest. He fell to the ground and fragmented into millions of dust shards.

Grandma took a flask from her costume and poured it over the pile that was Olsen. The pile turned to smoke and disintegrated into thin air. She set the flask down and dusted her hands off. "Guess that's that."

I looked at her. She patted my cheek. "Remind me to tell you about your Hungarian ancestors someday."

With that she turned and headed in the direction of the ballroom.

I shook my head. "Did you guys see that too?"

Ranger chuckled before leaning down to kiss my mouth. "Yeah, Babe. Only your granny."

We made our way through the rest of the maze that was the haunted house and in no time we were in the alcove outside the ballroom. We took the opportunity to clean up before we joined the other guests in the ballroom.

We took our seats at the central table just as the speaker stepped up to the podium at the front of the room. He went right into his speech, detailing why we were here.

The man pontificated at great length. After twenty minutes, I was ready to head to the buffet table, but unfortunately, we wouldn't get that chance until he finally decided to shut up. I looked over at Lula and wondered how I could get her to act so it would interrupt the drivel that was being spewed our way.

There was a loud growl and I wanted to sink through the floor. The adage that every cloud has a silver lining held true because the sound caused the speaker to stop talking and look around. He blushed, then said, "I'll end there. Now let's dine, shall we?"

There was applause, I think more for him stopping then from what he said. The dishes were placed on the table and it was time to dig in.

It was sometime later when I found myself alone with Lula. Ranger and the guys were talking to the entourage that had arrived to take over the security for Bella and her friends.

I chuckled. "Man, this has been one heck of a Halloween. The next time there's a Friday the thirteenth, remind me to listen to you."

It was eerily quiet and I turned to look at Lula. She had a funny expression on her face and I leaned in to get a better look. She suddenly opened her mouth and hissed at me like a cat with its back arched. I moved back, my eyes opened wide.

She was poised, as if she was planning to launch herself at me any moment. She smiled and it was all I could do not to scream as I got a look at her extremely sharp teeth.

"Ith thold youth thoo lishen thoo meth."

She rose and suddenly a bucket of water was upended over her head. She started making hideous noises, every so often she would hiss. Her skin actually seemed to have steam rising from it.

Just when I thought she might still attack me, Grandma joined us. She narrowed her eyes on Lula and shook her head. "I thought the holy water might work, but it doesn't seem to have done the trick." She took out a vial and unscrewed the cap before tossing the contents into Lula's face.

Lula hissed again and then just as suddenly fell over.

Tank managed to catch her right before she hit the ground. He lifted her in his arms and glared, "What's going on here?"

Grandma waved her hand. "She's suffering from the infection Ziggy gave her when he gummed her neck. Once she gets a prescription she'll be good, but with it being Halloween, the moon was affecting her judgment."

Bobby shook his head. "I think I have an antibiotic in my bag that you can use."

The two men left, Tank carrying Lula to take her home and Bobby to get the prescription.

Bella, Edward, and the others joined us again at the table.

Bella smiled. "Thank you so much for all you've done for us. If there's ever a way we can repay you…"

I smiled. "It was nice meeting all of you. Maybe you'd like to come back again and do this all over again…well, everything except the thing with Olsen."

With that we all laughed. We all shook hands and everything, then we walked outside with them where they got into a stretch limousine that would be taking them all to the airport.

As the limo drove away, Ranger leaned down and asked, "So...how would you feel about taking a little trip with me?"

I tilted my head to look at him and replied, "I would willingly follow you anywhere."

He grinned his two thousand watt smile and I was putty in his hands as he lifted me in his arms and brought his mouth down over mine.

**The End…**

**or is it?**


End file.
